After The Yule Ball
by Nymphadora1506
Summary: Hermione is angry because her evening was spoilt. But someone is ready to cheer her up! Please do read...


_All the characters, settings etc. belong to my favourite author, JKR and certainly not me._

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"Goodnight then, Herm-own-ninny," said Viktor, somewhat unsure of himself.

"Yeah, um, night," I said nodding stiffly.

He stood there for a moment probably waiting for some explanation; then he realized he wasn't going to get any. Confused, he nodded once and started walking away.

I stood still, looking down at my shoes. I felt sorry for Viktor; none of this was his fault after all. He had been so sweet to me all evening. I shouldn't have done this to him. I would have to apologize in the morning.

I exhaled loudly. I could feel tears of anger in my eyes. He ruined everything, that moron Ron Weasley. Everything was going on so smoothly—perfectly. I had been so flattered that an international quidditch player actually asked me out to the ball. Not that I was in love with him or anything. Any duffer would have realized that.

I realized that a lot of couples were gathering at the Entrance Hall, around me. I felt stupid, standing there all alone. But I didn't want to go back inside either. So I just started walking into the grounds, searching for a lonely spot to sit on. Soon, I found the place I was looking for.

Not caring about my dress, I flumped down on the grass. I brought my knees up to my chin and hugged them hard. Damn that Ronald Weasley! _He _never bothered to hide his feelings about Fleur Delacour, did he? So why was I supposed to? Jerk!

"Aaaaaaaargh!" I cried, trying to let out my frustration.

It helped a little and I calmed down a bit.

"Whoa…easy, woman" said a voice.

I jumped and looked around. To my utter bewilderment I saw the lean silhouette of Draco Malfoy a few yards away from me. He was still in his dress-robes, sitting on a tree stump, resting his elbows over his knees. He was twirling his wand in his fingers and it was emitting a faint golden light which was making his face glow slightly. Angry and shocked as I was, I couldn't help admiring how he looked. I had seen him before during the ball too, but then I'd been too busy with Viktor.

"You should close your mouth, you know," he said, not looking at me.

I hastily closed my mouth which I hadn't realized was open till now and turned my face. I heard a low chuckle.

We were quite silent for a few minutes. Due to some reason, Ron and Viktor had disappeared from my mind completely. From the corner of my eyes, I started observing Malfoy. He was rocking slightly and tapping his feet as if to music. His wand was still emitting that faint glow. I couldn't think of any reason why he was here instead of at the ball. After a few moments, he started humming a song which was unfamiliar to me.

I was captivated. His voice was low and pleasant and soothing. I turned towards him and saw that his wand was emitting little flecks of light which were floating in the air, surrounding him. I didn't bother to hide my amazement. It was extremely difficult magic, and not many people knew about it.

"…na…na…na" he finished.

I resisted clapping out loud.

He turned his face towards me and smiled.

"Your mouth's open again."

I closed it once again; this time I turned red. He looked pleased with himself for some reason. I controlled myself from smiling. He was looking so cute with his hair messed up and a self-satisfied smile on his face.

"Mmm…hmmm…hmmm..."he started humming again, tapping his feet on the ground.

I closed my eyes and wondered what had happened to him all of a sudden.

"He looked upset, what did you say to him?"

I opened my eyes. "What?" I asked.

"Krum. Why did you ditch him like that?"

When did he see all that, I thought. I kept silent for a moment and said, "You have a nice voice."

He gave another chuckle and shook his head.

I smiled too. I never imagined I would actually like spending time with Malfoy. And there he was, making me smile. And then something struck my mind.

"Hey, now I get it" I said slowly. He looked up, a questioning look on his face which made him look adorable. I tried to ignore that last part as I said, "You're drunk, aren't you?"

He gave a snort of laughter and said, "Caught me, haven't you? Yeah I'm drunk. And I love being drunk. I'm not being nasty to you right?"

I shook my head. He stood up abruptly and came over to where I was sitting. Contrary to my expectations, he was quite steady. As he came in front of me, he sat down on his knees.

"I don't like being mean to you, you know?" he said, quite sincerely.

I nodded. He was so close to me, it was making me nervous.

"But…I…" he was looking down at the grass. I couldn't say anything.

Suddenly, he looked up again and gave me a lopsided grin, which made my heart skip a beat.

"I know," he said, "Let's dance…"

Finally I could speak. "What? Are you serio―wait! Hey!" But he had already caught my hand and pulled me up to my feet. And before I knew it, his hand was on my waist and mine on his shoulder.

"Shut up for a moment, Granger." He said with another smile. I looked at him once and sighed. "Fine..."I muttered.

"Good," he whispered. And he started humming that song again as we swayed lightly. I let myself go and moved with him. He was a great dancer. I felt clumsy and stupid as I danced but he didn't seem to mind. He kept singing quietly, his eyes fixed on mine and a grin on his face.

Slowly, he put both his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. I turned bright red and my heart started pounding against my ribs. The flecks of light were still floating around us. I kept my eyes fixed on his and kept dancing. He was almost smug with satisfaction. I couldn't help giggling.

We danced for a few more minutes and then he leaned in towards my face. He kept singing as his forehead touched mine. I couldn't breathe; I stopped moving. He stopped too and came even closer; our lips were inches apart from one another. Finally, he sang the last word of the song and his lips touched mine.

As soon as that happened, he withdrew. Hurriedly, he removed his hands from my waist and stepped away. His face was flushed pink. He ran his hands through his hair and peeked at me nervously. I, on the other hand, was numb. To be honest with myself, I didn't mind it at all.

"S-sorry about that" he mumbled.

"Um, that's okay," I said.

"Right," he smiled and nodded. "Well, I hope I've cheered you up…"

"You did," I said, "more than that, actually."

"Nice. Okay then, I gotta go now." He gave a little bow. "Good night, 'Herm-own-ninny'…"

I raised my eyebrows. He laughed and started walking away.

Suddenly he turned and said, "Don't worry, that red-headed loony will soon realize what's going on."

My eyes widened. How the hell did he know that?

He chuckled again and turned away. After a few more steps, he turned again.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You really look insanely beautiful tonight!"

I stared after him with my mouth wide open. I kept looking at him till he disappeared from my sight. A wide smile was forming on my face. I decided not to brood over this and never, ever, EVER mention this incident to any living soul.

Unless I wanted my sanity questioned.

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**Kay, there's another one. I know Draco is way way waaaay OOC, but he's drunk right? Anyway, please review guys. I appreciate it a lot! Thanks for reading! :)**


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